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CIRCULAR No.2/1998/TT-BTS OF MARCH 14, 1998 GUIDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DECREE No.15-CP OF MARCH 19, 1996 OF THE GOVERNMENT ON THE MANAGE-MENT OF ANIMAL FEEDS

In furtherance of Decree No. 15-CP of March 1996 of the Government on the management of animal feeds, the Ministry of Aquatic Resources hereby provide the following detailed guidance on a number of contents of the management of aquatic animal feeds:

I. In this Circular the following terms are construed as follows

1. Aquatic animal feeds mentioned in this Circular are products which have been industrially processed from materials with origins from plants, animals, micro-organisms, chemicals, minerals to supply aquatic animals with nutrients in order to ensure their life, growth and reproduction.

2. Complete compound feeds for aquatic animals are feeds in pellets (bits or pellets, collectively called as pellets) which are the mixture of many single feeds processed according to given formulas to ensure sufficient nutrients to maintain the life, growth, development and reproduction of domestic aquatic animals without adding any other feed. The size of pellets must be suited to each growth period of the reared animals. The feeds may be sinking or floating, suited to the eating habits of each kind of reared aquatic animals.

II. Registration of production or business

1. Vietnamese and foreign organizations and individuals that produce and/or trade in aquatic animal feeds on the territory of Vietnam must meet the following conditions:

a/ Having the site, workshops and production and quality control equipment and facilities, technological processes for the feed production, which ensure the quality and environmental hygiene standards.

b/ Having technical personnel who are capable of meeting the requirements of the aquatic animal feed production technology and quality control.

2. Cases of aquatic animal feed production and/or trading which must be registered:

a/ Feeds which are produced for the first time;

b/ Feeds which have been granted production registration papers but is now subject to a change in one of the following contents: the name, the composition of nutrients, formula, product form, packaging and trademark.

c/ Feeds which have been produced abroad and now applying for production registration in Vietnam.

d/ Feeds which are produced abroad but expected to be sold in Vietnam through outlets licensed to operate in Vietnam.

3. Dossiers of application for aquatic animal feed production and/or trading :

a/ An application for registration of the aquatic animal feed production and/or trading according to the prescribed form.

b/ The production or business license granted by the competent agency (a notarized copy).

c/ The goods quality registration paper according to form 01-TS/DKCL issued together with Decision No. 14/KHCN of January 9, 1997 of the Minister of Aquatic Resources (for feeds which are on the list of goods subject to quality registration).

4. Each registration paper may permit the production of and/or trading in one or more than one kind of aquatic animal feed.

5. The registration results shall be notified not later than seven days from the date the registry receives the valid dossiers.

III. aquatic animal feed Production and trading

1. The list of feeds of various kinds which are permitted or not permitted to be produced or traded in Vietnam is included in Appendix 2 attached to this Circular. The specific name of each kind of feed permitted to be produced or circulated shall be announced, adjusted or supplemented every year by the Ministry of Aquatic Resources.

2. Aquatic animal feeds can be produced or traded in only after they are issued registration papers by the competent agencies stated in Section V of this Circular.

3. Each batch of aquatic animal feeds must be tested by the production establishments before their delivery from the factory and their samples must be kept for the monitoring purpose for a period of six months while the testing record must be filed at the establishments for at least three years.

4. The production of and/or trading in aquatic animal feeds which are not on the list of feeds permitted to be produced and/or traded in, feeds which are of poor quality or have past their expiry date, feeds without a clear origin or a quality control stamp upon their delivery from the factory, unregistered feeds or feeds with the registration paper having been withdrawn, are strictly prohibited.

5. The aquatic animal feed production and/or trading locations must have signboards showing the registered names of the enterprises or the shop. Such signboards must be clearly written and posted at a place to be easily seen by everyone.

6. Commercial aquatic animal feeds must be packaged with the trademark thereon according to the registered standards.

7. The trademark's contents must be written in Vietnamese language and may be also in a foreign language provided that the size of the foreign language letters must be smaller than that of the Vietnamese letters and put below the Vietnamese letters. A trademark must include the following contents:

a/ For complete compound feeds in pellets and condensed feeds:

- Name of the producer.

- Place of production.

- The commercial name of the feed.

- The quality registration code.

- Net weight.

- Names and percentages of main nutrients (crude protein, fat, fibrous matter, calcium, phosphorus, dissolubility and humidity...).

- Aquatic animals to be fed with, their sizes; and use instructions.

- Date, month and year of production.

- Expiry date.

- Preservation instructions.

b/ For complementary feeds: The trademarks must include all the contents like those required of complete compound feeds in pellets and condensed feeds and at the same time the names and proportions of complementary substances.

8. Safety must be ensured in the transportation of aquatic animal feeds, neither letting them be contaminated with noxious substances and bacteria, nor causing changes in their composition to affect their quality.

9. At the aquatic animal feed-storing or selling places, there must be storage to preserve their quality and ensure aquatic animal veterinary and environmental hygiene. Such articles which may damage or affect the quality of aquatic animal feeds as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, petrol, oil... must not be left together with aquatic animal feeds,.

10. Any new aquatic animal feed as the result of successful research conducted by organizations or individuals must be experimentally used and shall be commercially produced only after the Ministry of Aquatic resources so permits.

11. Aquatic animal feeds producers shall have to make quarterly and annual reports on their production situation to the Registration agency.

IV. Import and export of aquatic animal feeds and raw materials for the production thereof

1. Import.

a/ The importation of aquatic animal feeds and raw materials for the production thereof shall comply with the Aquatic Resources Ministry's regulations on the specialized aquatic product import and export.

b/ The aquatic animal feeds and their raw materials imported into Vietnam shall be permitted to be marketed only if they meet one of the two following conditions:

- They have been tested and granted with the State certificates for their quality.

- They have been tested and granted with aquatic animal quarantine certificates.

c/ Aquatic animal feeds which are for the first time brought into Vietnam must be subject to laboratory test. The Ministry of Aquatic Resources shall designate its research institutions to conduct such test. All costs of laboratory test shall be incurred by the aquatic animal feed owners. Basing itself on the testing results, the Ministry of Aquatic Resources shall consider to permit the marketing of such feeds.

2. Export.

All kinds of feeds on the list of aquatic animal feeds permitted to be produced and traded in, which ensure the registered quality standards and have been granted State certificates for their quality (for those feeds on the list of aquatic animal feeds which must be tested and granted State certificates for quality) can be exported.

The exportation of aquatic animal feeds shall comply with the Trade Ministry's annual import and export mechanism for the export of ordinary goods.

V. State management over aquatic animal feeds

1. At the central level.

a/ The Ministry of Aquatic Resources shall perform the unified State management over aquatic animal feeds. It shall assign the Department for Protection of Aquatic Resources to assume the main responsibility for this task. The Department shall have the following tasks:

- Assuming the main responsibility and coordina-ting with the functional departments in studying and drafting documents to guide the provisions on the management of the aquatic animal feed production and trading for the Ministry to issue them or submit to the Government for issuance.

- Granting papers of registration of aquatic animal feed production and trading to foreign-invested establishments (joint ventures or companies and enterprises with 100 per cent of foreign capital), units attached to the Ministry of Aquatic Resources, central production and trading branches as well as foreign companies' agents and branches that sell aquatic animal feeds in Vietnam.

- Organizing or authorizing the Aquatic Resource Protection Sub-Departments to organize the aquatic animal feed quality registration for the above-mentioned establishments which produce aquatic animal feeds in Vietnam or produce them abroad but register for their sale in Vietnam according to the regulations on the goods quality registration exclusively applicable to the aquatic resource sector issued together with Decision No. 14-QD/KHCN of January 1, 1997 of the Minister of Aquatic Resources.

- Conducting the test and granting State certificates for quality of aquatic animal feeds which are produced in Vietnam in accordance with the regulations on inspection and State certification of aquatic resource quality issued together with Decision No. 1184-QD/KHCN of December 21, 1996 of the Minister of Aquatic Resources.

- Checking and granting aquatic resource quarantine certificates for imported or exported feeds and their raw materials which are not on the list of goods subject to quality inspection and certification.

- Organizing the inspection and supervision of State management over aquatic animal feeds nationwide.

- Coordinating with the departments and functional agencies in proposing the lists of feeds the production and trading of which are permitted or banned and submitting them to the Ministry for annual announcement.

b/ The Science and Technology Department shall assume the main responsibility and coordinate with the Aquatic Resources Protection Department and concerned agencies in setting aquatic animal feed quality standards as well as production, preservation and use procedures and regulations and propose them to the Ministry of Aquatic Rresources or the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment for issuance.

2. The provinces and cities directly under the Central Government.

a/ The provincial/municipal Aquatic Resources Departments or the provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Departments(of the localities where there is no Aquatic Resources Department) shall advise the People's Committees of the provinces or cities directly under the Central Government to perform the function of State management over aquatic animal feeds within their respective localities and direct the Aquatic Resource Protection Sub-Departments or agencies to perform the following tasks:

- Elaborating documents guiding the State management of aquatic animal feeds in the localities.

- Granting papers of registration of aquatic animal feed production and/or trading to production and/or trading establishments falling under the scope of the localities' management.

- Granting aquatic animal feed quality certificates in accordance with the regulations on the specialized aquatic product registration issued together with Decision No. 14-QD/KHCN of January 9, 1997 of the Minister of Aquatic Resources.

- Organizing the inspection and granting of State certificates of quality for those kinds on the list of aquatic animal feeds which must be inspected and granted State certificates of quality and fall under the scope of the localities' management.

- Supervising, inspecting and handling violations of the State management over aquatic animal feeds at the locally-run establishments or, when authorized, centrally-run establishments.

b/ For localities where there is no aquatic resources protection agency, the Aquatic Resources Protection Department shall direct the provincial/municipal Agriculture and Rural Development Departments to perform the above-mentioned tasks.

VI. Commendation and handling of violations

1. Organizations, individuals and State employees that record merits in the implementation of Decree No. 15-CP issued on March 19, 1998 by the Government shall be commended according to current regulations.

2. Organizations, individuals and State employees that violate the stipulations in Decree No. 15-CP of the Government and relevant provisions shall, depending on the extent of damage, be administratively sanctioned and have to pay material compensation in accordance with the provisions of law.

VII. Implementation provisions

This Circular takes effect from the date of its signing. The previous provisions which are contrary to this Circular are hereby annulled.

All departments, institutes and research centers of the Ministry of Aquatic Resources and the provincial/municipal Aquatic Resources Departments and Agriculture and Rural Development Departments shall, according to their functions and powers, guide, urge and supervise the implementation of this Circular

Any problems arising in the course of implemen-tation must be promptly reported to the Ministry of Aquatic Resources for amendment and supplement.

For the Minister of Aquatic Resources

Vice Minister

NGUYEN NGOC HONG

Appendix 2

LISTS OF FEEDS ALLOWED FOR OR BANNED FROM PRODUCTION AND/OR CIRCULATION IN VIETNAM

THE CONTENTS OF NOXIOUS SUBSTANCES, QUANTITIES OF PATHOGENIC BACTERIA, NOXIOUS FUNGUS SPORES, FINENESS, AND HUMIDITY OF AQUATIC ANIMAL FEEDS AND RAW MATERIALS THEREOF

(Issued together with Circular No. 2/1998/TT-BTS of March 14, 1998)

Table 1: The list of aquatic animal feeds which are permitted to be produced and/or circulated in Vietnam

Code Names of feeds

01 Complete compound feeds

02 Condensed feeds

03 Complementary feeds

Table 2: The list of aquatic animal feeds which are banned from production and/or circulation in Vietnam

Code Names of feeds

04 Kinds of hormone (except for sexual hormone) or anti-hormone feeds

for aquatic animals. Kinds of feeds which contain artificial growth chemical

stimulants, matters which are noxious to human beings and water environment.

Table 3: Allowable contents of Aflatoxin and noxious substances in aquatic animal feeds and raw materials thereof

Code list Allowable content

05 Content of Aflatoxin

in corn, corn powder,

wheat flour, rice bran,

broken rice, fish powder,

soya bean cakes, peanut

cakes, etc., as raw mate-

rials for the production

of aquatic animal feeds Not allowable

06 Allowable content of

Aflatoxin in complete

compound feeds Not allowable

07 Allowable maximum 2.4 D: 0.2 mg/kg

content of toxins (plant Butyl hydroxy toluen

protection drugs, (BHT): 0.02%

preservation chemicals) Butyl hydroxy anisole

in maize, corn powder (BHA): 0.02%

wheat , flour, rice bran, Ethoxyquin: 0.15%

broken rice, fish powder, Sorbate: 0.3%

soya bean cakes, peanut Benzoate: 0.3%

cakes, etc., as raw Malathion: 2mg/kg

materials for the

production of aquatic

animal feeds

Table 4: Quantities of pathogenic bacteria, noxious fungus spores in complete compound feeds, condensed feeds and complementary feeds

Code List Allowable quantity

08 Pathogenic bacteria in

complete compound feeds,

condensed feeds and

complementary feeds Not allowable

09 Noxious fungus spores

in complete compound

feeds, condensed feeds

and complementary feeds Not allowable

Table 5: Fineness and humidity of aquatic animal feeds and raw materials thereof

Code List Allowable norm

10 Allowable maximum

fineness of raw materials

for the production of

complete compound feeds,

condensed feeds and

complementary feeds 100-200m

11 Allowable maximum

humidity for complete

compound feeds,

condensed feeds and

complementary feeds 10-12%